"Was it you put the letter in the cleft stick?"
Jinny smiled.
"Ay," said she.
"I found it," said Billy.
With that Jinny Tulk kissed Billy Topsail before he could stop her. She was old enough for that; and she was so wholesome and pretty that when Billy had reflected upon the incident he determined that he would not try to stop her should she attempt it again.
"How'd you like it?" Archie teased him, privately, when Doctor Luke had arrived and Trapper George was resting.
Billy blushed.
"'Twasn't so awful," was his stout reply.
Archie burst out laughing. Billy blushed again. Then he, too, laughed.